


I Never Wanted a Cat

by sheepybaa



Series: Please do shut up, Miss Stark [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Animal Abuse, Bucky Barnes Has Cats, Cats, M/M, Not by Bucky or Logan but it happens, Soulmates, fuck you Hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 12:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15557805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheepybaa/pseuds/sheepybaa
Summary: Logan and Bucky are out to dinner when they get a call from Tony Stark.It's nothing good, of course--what call from Tony Stark ever is?(A follow-up toWe're Not Keeping It.)





	I Never Wanted a Cat

**Author's Note:**

> HAHA okay, so I promise I'm working on the next chapter of Through the Looking Glass, but it's proving to be a real bear to wrestle with, plot-wise, and I still want to go back and revise the last chapter before I move on with that. ~~Also standalone Tony selfcest. HAHA YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED~~
> 
> Anyway, for those of you who love these guys as much as I do, please enjoy this snippet. I have so many more ideas about these two and their private life--or is it these _three_ , now?--that will almost certainly come spilling out of my head at some point. Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> WARNING: This does contain violence and animal abuse. All of it happens off-screen, and none of it is perpetrated by any named characters, but it does occur and the results are discussed in a fair amount of detail. If such things are an issue for you, please proceed carefully.

Bucky and Logan are out sharing a slice at their favorite pizza place when they get the call. 

Logan's phone is the one that rings, which is the first sign something's wrong. Nobody ever calls him on a weeknight unless they've got a serious question or an emergency. He wipes his fingers hastily on a napkin and fumbles it out of his pocket. Bucky frowns at him across the table as he lifts the phone to his ear. 

"This better be good, Stark," is Logan's opener. She's been known to call about inane bullshit at all hours of the day and night before-- _Steve doesn't like cilantro_ , or _Clint won't tell me the new password to his Netflix account and I need you to distract him while I get in_. Bucky's more frequently her victim, there, but it wouldn't be the first time Logan nearly crushed the StarkPhone she gave him in a fit of simmering rage. She has a true gift for inspiring anger in people. 

" _Whoa, calm down there, tiger,_ " Stark says, because she's the most infuriating human being on the face of the planet. " _JARVIS got a ping from your apartment; security systems went offline for a bit a couple minutes ago. Just wanted to give you two a heads up._ "

"And?" Logan growls, meeting Bucky's eyes over their half-empty pizza plates. He knows Bucky's heard every word she's saying; his hearing's more than good enough to catch it. 

" _Nothing. That's it. Well, unless you want some back up,_ " she amends, trying for levity and failing. 

"Think we'll need it?" Logan asks. 

Bucky shakes his head a little in denial, just before Stark says, " _Nah, you're probably good; just thought I'd offer. They haven't come in with big enough numbers to trip anything off, anyway--if anyone's even there. Might just be a systems malfunction._ "

"Right," Logan deadpans. Stark's tone says she's thinking the exact same thing he is: it's never just a systems malfunction. 

Bucky reaches for the phone. Logan gives it to him. 

"Thanks for the heads up, Stark," Bucky says, because he's far better at diplomacy than Logan is. 

" _Sure thing,_ " she replies easily, her voice tinny over the noises of the restaurant. " _I'll keep an eye on you two just in case things go south. Let me know when you're in the clear._ "

"Will do," Bucky says. He hangs up the call and hands the phone back to Logan. Logan pockets it. 

In the crowded dining area of Mama Giada's, Bucky raises his eyebrows, and the two of them exchange meaningful looks. 

"Hey, Suzanne?" Bucky calls over the din towards their passing waitress, flagging her down. "Could we get the check?"

Fifteen minutes later, Logan edges his way up the narrow apartment stairway. Bucky's right behind him, of course, but Logan's all but indestructible. It's just smarter if he goes first. 

The door to their apartment's still locked, but the little piece of thread Bucky leaves caught in the door frame whenever they're out is gone. When Bucky sees that, his eyes darken. 

Logan turns the key in the lock slowly, and nudges the door open. On first glance, the entryway is clear. No goons or minions pop out immediately as Logan sidles cautiously inside, careful to keep his steps as silent as possible as he surveys the darkened area beyond. Everything appears to be as they left it. 

The first signs of a disturbance can be found in the kitchen. A chair is knocked over, and the tasteful vase Ororo gave them for their anniversary lies shattered on the floor around a heap of half-crushed leaves and potting soil. The window is open, and a smear of dirt on the tabletop implies their intruders made a very hasty exit. Bucky takes it all in, his face neutral but his eyes impossibly dark. Logan is angry, but not as angry as he feels when he catches the first whiff of blood. 

He turns and notices for the first time a trail of dripping blood leading from the kitchen into the hallway. Logan glances at Bucky. His claws silently slide free of his hands, and they follow it. 

The living room and bathroom are clear. The smell grows stronger the closer they get to the bedroom, and the door at the end of the hallway hangs slightly ajar. Logan can't hear anyone in the room beyond, but he pushes it open carefully nevertheless, keeping his body between the room and Bucky. 

Logan moves inside cautiously. At first, everything looks empty. He hears a low growl and sees a pair of eyes glinting at him from the closet before _something_ flings itself out from behind Bucky's shirts and attacks. The blur lands on Logan's shoulders and gets one good swipe in on the side of his neck as he snarls before it suddenly retreats, backing off into a corner of the room. 

"Aslan," Bucky says in surprise as Logan curses, trying in vain to keep his blood from dripping on the carpet as the wound over his jugular heals. Sure enough, the little blur has resolved itself into a bristling ginger cat, who is now crouched in between the laundry basket and Logan's end table, glowering at them fiercely. All his fur is standing on end, but as Logan watches it begins to flatten out, his hackles shifting and his eyes growing a little less wild. 

"What happened to you, pal?" Bucky asks with concern, sheathing his knife. Bucky crouches down onto the floor and beckons Aslan to him. 

After a moment, Aslan's body language relaxes a little further. He's still on high alert, ears twitching and swiveling all around, but he's feeling comfortable enough to slink over towards Bucky, skirting the edge of the bed. His body uncoils as Bucky cards his fingers through the fur on the top of his head, fur settling as he allows Bucky to pet him, and pretty soon he starts up a shaky purr. 

"Holy shit," Bucky says after a moment, shocked, while Logan's watching the kitchen. "Logan, look at him. He's covered in blood."

Under Bucky's tender ministrations, Aslan's managing a low, rumbling purr, steady and content. Sure enough, though, his front paws are sticky with half-dried blood. The fur around his mouth and chest is stained red. 

"Jesus Christ," Logan says. "He didn't--" He stops, thinks back to the way Aslan attacked him earlier. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the cat went straight for his jugular. 

Logan doesn't believe in coincidences. 

"Oh no," Bucky then says, distressed, and Logan looks down to where Aslan's crawling into Bucky's lap, making himself comfortable. "Logan, call the vet. I think they managed to get a shot off on him."

Turns out Bucky's right: whatever goons broke into their apartment did. Logan and Bucky cart Aslan off to the veterinary clinic (which is 24-hour, because Bucky "had a feeling they'd need it." Sometimes, Logan could swear Bucky's actually a mutant and just hiding it for kicks), and he goes, apparently perfectly happy to be carted off anywhere so long as it's with them. There, they find out that he's got a broken tail, a sprained ankle, a chipped tooth, a wound from where a bullet grazed him, and has torn two claws on his front paws. 

"Some thugs broke into our apartment while we were out," Bucky says unhappily when the vet asks them all how this happened. He gives her a wry smile, and adds, "Seems like he decided to fight back."

The vet's expression melts from stern concern into warm sympathy, and she ducks down to scratch Aslan gently on his head where he's sprawled out on the examining table. 

"What a brave guy," she says softly, smiling to herself when he starts to purr. "You must really love your family, huh? 

"I have to say, it's not all that common for cats to fight back during a burglary unless they find themselves cornered," she continues. "Usually they'll run or hide away until it's over, if they're alone. Lots of people lose their pets during break-ins." She scratches up behind Aslan's ears, and his purring is beginning to sound like a car engine. Neither of them corrects the vet's assumption that the intruder was a burglar. "But you weren't gonna let some strangers mess around your home, huh? No chasing you out without a fight," she coos to the cat. 

"You have no idea," Logan says darkly. 

Aslan has to stay overnight at the vet's office, for observation. Tomorrow, they'll get a call and an update on how he's doing, but that won't be until seven AM, at the earliest. When they get home, Bucky and Logan spend thirty minutes cleaning up the remnants of the break-in and sweeping for bugs before collapsing on the couch in silence. By mutual agreement, they do not turn on the TV. Instead, they just sit there, staring at the opposite wall--well, Logan does. Bucky, he's pretty sure, is sending a text to Stark to let them know they're clear. 

There's a half-empty glass of water sitting on the coffee table. A single ginger hair is floating on the water's surface. 

When Logan turns his head, Bucky is staring at him. He doesn't say anything, and his expression, such as it is, is perfectly neutral. Logan stares back, tired, and can feel all his reasons for being angry about this crumbling away into nothing, can practically see the 'no' he's been clinging to for the past two weeks slip through his fingers, until there's just nothing for it. 

"Yeah, alright," Logan sighs grumpily, resigning himself to his fate. "Fine. We can keep the fuckin' cat."

Bucky beams. 

(Aslan keeps a scar on the side of his body from the bullet wound, a little furless patch where the skin puckers up like a crumpled napkin, which he normally wears like it isn't a big deal but pointedly displays whenever strangers are over. He gets into the habit of springing out at Logan from a new hiding place every once in a while; Logan swears he's scouting the apartment for optimal ambush locations. 

Bucky starts putting cat beds in his favorite spots. 

The next break-in, when someone tries to plant an EMP on Bucky's metal arm while Logan's out of town, Aslan jumps out of the closet from his heated cat bed and surprises the assailant by clawing him across the face from behind. By using both paws, he manages to take out both the guy's eyes in one strike. 

Logan never wanted a pet, but... 

He couldn't be prouder.)


End file.
